Black Culinary Arts Dinner

Last night Marchette and I got all dressed up for the BCA annual fundraising dinner.



The BCA is a nationwide non-profit, educational and networking organization of hospitality and food service professionals. Its mission is to create exposure and provide educational and professional opportunities for culinary and hospitality professionals of color. They provide quality educational and employment resources, job coaching, mentoring and assistance with placement, and networking support. Additionally, the BCA exposes inner-city high school students to the culinary arts through a series of workshops that serve to introduce culinary arts as a viable career option.

Our company hosts BCA workshops and employs BCA interns.
























The students from various BCA member schools prepared the cocktail reception food, the main dinner, and dessert.





















We were joined by my coworkers Susan Stockton( with husband Rick), Patalia Tate (with her charming date Bernard).

March Update

I like to write something at least once a month, so here's an update on some random stuff that's been happening to me over the past 4-6 weeks.

Marchette has really been into modeling recently and has almost complete her own portfolio.


She was lucky enough to snag some tickets for the 2009 Mercedes Fashion Week events




We had bad snowstorm in February



And I was lucky enough to have some work to do in Miami Beach



where we entertained some of advertising clients, trying to get a greater share of their 2009 spending.



I also went to an awards dinner for our CEO where country star and 2008 Celebrity Apprentice runner-up Trace Adkins performed



The next week I attended a dinner for Diversity Inc magazine where Dr. Michael Eric Dyson gave the keynote speech.



and finally I spent one Sunday morning preparing Marty for the coming warmer temperatures by shaving all his hair.

Cookbook Success

I've been telling people that one of the fun things about getting older is that while you realize how little about everything you really know, you do come to realize that you do know a lot more than many about some things. And in case you don't know me personally, I've never been one to hesitate to give advice :)

Here's an e-mail exchange from work today when I grad student wrote me out of the blue for advice.


-----Original Message-----
From: Mallory A Lee [mailto:mlee@stmarys-ca.edu]
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 10:54 PM
To: Smith, Michael
Subject: Marketing Cookbook Question
Hi Michael,
I am an MBA student at Saint Mary's College and I am currently working on a marketing plan for prospective cookbook author. As the Senior-vice president of marketing for Food Network, I felt that you would be a great source to contact for some marketing research.
Basically, as a young author of a cookbook with an unrecognizable name in comparison to your stars such as Ina and Rachel Ray, I'm guessing this is a terribly hard market to break into. So, my very open-ended question to you is how you would recommend an aspiring cookbook author to market her book, and secondly what is your (Food
Network's) process for collaborative cookbooks? Any information would help my process!
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Mallory Lee


From: Smith, Michael
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 5:15 PM
To: 'Mallory A Lee'
Subject: RE: Marketing Cookbook Question

Look at the top 10 cookbooks on the B&N list this week and you'll see some of the keys to cookbook success. Having built-in name appeal from past fame really helps.
Guy Fieri #2 and Ina Garten #5 are Food Network tv stars. The Biggest Loser #4 and America's Test Kitchen #10 are popular tv shows. Martha Earnhardt #8 is the mother of a NASCAR star.

Nancy Harmon Jenkins #3 is a veteran food writer who's has several prior bestsellers. David Zinczenko #1 is the editor of Men's Health magaxzine, a popular blogger, and has been on several TV shows.

Tucker Max #6 had a popular website before his book came out. Michael F. Roizen #9 is a famous doctor and the founder of RealAge and a past chairman of the FDA advisory committee.

Eat This Not That!: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds-or More!
by David Zinczenko

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip ... with Recipes!
by Guy Fieri

The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: A Delicious Alternative for Lifelong Health by Nancy Harmon Jenkins

Biggest Loser Family Cookbook: Budget-Friendly Meals Your Whole Family Will Love by Devin Alexander

Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: How to Get Great Flavors from Simple Ingredients by Ina Garten

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (Revised) by Tucker Max

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking by Jeff Hertzberg

Pit Stop in a Southern Kitchen: Two Moms of Racing Legends Serve Up Stories and Recipes by Martha Earnhardt

You on a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management by Michael F. Roizen

America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (REV) by America's Test Kitchen

My advice is to build your fame in blog world or through TV appearances, and then try to leverage that into publishing. For example, we didn't publish Guy Fieri's first book unitl he'd done over 2 years and 60 episodes of TV shows for us.

The only other road I've seen work is to come up with a truly unique gimmick, like 30 Minute Meals, or Semi Homemade Cooking, The South Beach Diet, etc.

Good luck,

Michael

Shutterbug

When I was in high school in Maryland my favorite hobby was taking studio photos and working in the darkroom.


I even dreamed of growing up to live in New York City and work as a big time fashion photographer.

Well, in my 20s I did live in New York and moonlight as a photographer under the professional name of John Michaels


(a friend said I'd get more work using that name than using Michael Smith.)

Many years have gone by since those days. I moved to LA, built a career in television, and returned to NYC. But I still love to take pictures.



Photos are like seeds. With each passing year, they grow more interesting and evoke deeper memories and emotions.

One Brave Dog

One year ago today our oldest lhasa apso Marty suffered a ruptured disc from intervertebal disc disease which led to paralysis in all four limbs and he was rushed into emergency surgery. He was given only a 50/50 chance to pull through due to his advanced age of 12.

He came through, and was pretty weak afterwards. But he never lost his spirit and continued to hang on.


10 days later he still could not stand or walk and the doctor suggested we put him down.



But Marty struggled valiantly and soon began to crawl bit by bit.

By the 13th day post surgery he got up, and today he runs and plays like Marty of old.



He taught me a lot about the power of one's will to live.

Here's to Marty, here's to life.

Holidays Through the Years

Going back through the Christmas time machine. Boy how the years fly by.

2007


2006


2003


2001


2000


1996

Winter Biking

I started biking to work in July 2004 and I commute year round, rain or shine. For me, my hands are the first part to feel winter's pain, but it's only a 20 minute ride and a good pair of Lobster Gloves can get me through the coldest ride.

On the weekends I like to go 25-40 miles per ride, usually on the West Side Bikeway that runs along the icy Hudson river.

and it's much more challenging keeping your hands and feet warm for 2-3 hours of cold weather. Down to 35 degrees wind chill I'm fine with Lobster Gloves and Sidi Winter cycling shoes with Smart Wool socks as shown in the pictures below.



But when the wind chill goes below zero I turn to two very cool gadgets - my Sidi Toaster heated insoles which are wirelessly remote controlled


and my Zanier Heat-GX heated gloves.


Both feature rechargeable lithium ion batteries and can keep your hands and feet at room temperature for over 5 hours per charge. Just this past weekend I did 25 miles each day in 34 degree, 22 degree wind chill cold, and remained comfortable the entire way. I'm not going to kid you and say it's like riding in July, but at least your legs are still the part of your body that feels the most pain from the cycling.

The insoles are $300, the gloves $350. Being able to do your favorite outdoor activity year round - priceless.